If your website is filled with numerous links to several online forums and directories, on the pretext that these links will popularize it, you need to rethink your strategy. There are times when the readers will go away because the links look horrid.
It might seem intuitive to encourage your readers to promote your blog through social bookmarking sites like Digg and Stumbleupon. It might also seem obvious that anything worth doing is worth doing on every possible service.
Consider it from the view of your readers: Is any added value created by the social bookmarking links?
If your reader is actively using one of the social media sites, it’s very likely that they have the accompanying toolbar installed. Clicking on the familiar toolbar button is probably much faster than finding the right tiny icon on your site.
Do not waste your time creating dozens of icons on your site that will rarely be used. If your reader has never heard of social book marking, it is very unlikely that they will know what these icons are about. These icons will not serve as inspiration to research them and return to your site to bookmark it.
Other than *yourself*, how many people do you think are going to take the time to highlight your post on more than one social media site?
Therefore does it pay to have these icons using so much space on your blog? Obviously the right approach is to test it. Google Analytics can be used to record clicks on outbound links.
That said, you should occasionally encourage your readers to digg your post on a single service that you are targeting for that particular post.
Do you think social bookmarking icons are useful or a pain in the neck. Give your opinion on my blog.
Are your customers paying attention? Learn more from Nick Dalton at http://www.AttentionRich.com
- Nick Dalton.
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